1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame for supporting a housing that contains electronic components, for example, a copying machine, a printing machine, a cutting machine, a bookbinding machine, a machine tool, X-ray radiation equipment, and other equipment, such as a medical device, a photographic developing machine, a TV set, broadcast equipment, a refrigerator, a washing machine, metallic furniture, a vending machine, construction equipment, an elevator, and a vehicle (hereinafter, collectively referred to as an “electronic device”).
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an electronic device, such as a copying machine, has a configuration that various components, for example, an image forming engine and the like are provided inside a housing. A frame for ensuring the rigidity is installed on the bottom of the housing. The frame is generally fitted with a mobile rotating body such as a caster, so it is easy to move the electronic device on the floor.
The frame is required to have considerable rigidity, in particular, the frame set up on the bottom of the electronic device bears a load of the entire electronic device and the like, and thus improvement in rigidity is required. In a frame for an image forming apparatus proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-345856, a basic framework structure is formed by joining rectangular hollow materials by welding, and the basic framework structure is sandwiched between two or more plate materials by welding.
However, the frame disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-345856 has problems that because of the use of the basic framework structure formed by a combination of a large number of rectangular hollow materials, the two plate materials joined to the basic framework structure by welding, a plurality of reinforcing rectangular hollow materials as a flexible reinforcing member, and the like, there are a lot of joined parts or welded parts between the materials, and thus the weight of the frame increases. Furthermore, since there are a lot of component members, there is concern about making a joining process cumbersome and complicated.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to simplify a process for manufacturing a frame, such as joining by welding or the like, and to provide a sufficiently-rigid and weight-saving frame for holding an electronic device.